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Home » Blog » Amend or Repeal the Espionage Act to Protect Journalists and Whistle-blowers

Amend or Repeal the Espionage Act to Protect Journalists and Whistle-blowers

Submitted by Robert Naiman on 15 August 2013 - 12:49pm

Isn't it high time to amend or repeal the Espionage Act of 1917 so that it can't be used to charge whistle-blowers or journalists with "aiding the enemy"?

Note that this demand is completely separable from saying that there should be no consequences for whistle-blowers who leak classified information to the media or journalists who publish classified information that is leaked to them. If I say that I am against the death penalty, it does not mean that I am against consequences for people who are found guilty of committing murder. It means that I don't think that execution by the state should be one of those consequences. If I say that I am against the use of incarceration to punish nonviolent drug offenses, it does not mean that I am against consequences for people who are found guilty of nonviolent drug offenses. It means that I don't think that incarceration should be one of those consequences. If I say that I am against a war -- or killing Iranian civilians by cutting off their access to essential medicines, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law -- to prevent Iran from "acquiring a nuclear weapons capability," [sic] it does not mean that I think that efforts by Iran to pursue a "nuclear weapons capability" should face no consequences. The question is not whether the conduct being sanctioned should face no sanction. The question is whether "the punishment fits the crime."

You don't have to think that Edward Snowden or Bradley Manning or John Kiriakou are heroes -- for the record, I do think that they are heroes and patriots, Mr. President -- but if you don't, I still want to recruit you for reform -- to say that these men should not have been, and should not be, charged as foreign spies, nor threatened with being so charged. To treat government employees -- or government contractors -- who leak classified information to the media in the public interest as foreign spies is a deep stain on our democracy. And it's high time to permanently remove this stain.

Bradley Manning was charged with "aiding the enemy" for leaking diplomatic cables to theNew York Times and the Guardian via WikiLeaks. He was found not guilty on this charge. American journalism breathed a "sigh of relief" when Manning was acquitted on the charge.

But why should American journalism have been holding its breath in the first place? Manning never should have been charged with this crime. He still potentially faces many decades in prison, showing that the charge was unnecessary to ensure that he faced serious consequences for his actions.

Carrying this law on the books imposes four unacceptable costs:

1. It allows excessive punishment for whistle-blowers. It's one thing to say that someone who breaks law, regulation, or agreement to disclose information in the public interest should be ready to face consequences. It's quite another to say that they should be ready to face being crucified. It's not in the public interest for potential whistle-blowers to face such a high bar of personal courage.

2. It allows an excessive threat to be used as an intimidation tactic to bully a defendant into a guilty plea. You hear it said that Edward Snowden should be ready to face trial in the U.S., and that such a trial would serve the public interest. But you don't learn much from a trial in which a defendant pleads guilty to avoid the prospect of excessive punishment. The threat of prosecution for "aiding the enemy" has been used to intimidate whistle-blowers into pleading guilty to lesser charges.

3. It allows selective prosecution of whistle-blowers on an extreme charge.Government officials who leak classified information in support of government policy face no sanction, while government officials who leak classified information in opposition to government policy face an extreme sanction. This strengthens classification as a tool for suppressing effective dissent.

4. It allows the government and its media apologists to poison public debate by throwing around words like "traitor." Shouldn't we learn something from what just happened in the Snowden case? The government and its media apologists launched a full-court press to brand Snowden a "traitor" in public discourse, not a "whistle-blower," in an attempt to throttle debate about Snowden's disclosures. The prospect of charges of "aiding the enemy" under the Espionage Act was a key tool in this government-media jihad. If the House vote on the Amash-Conyers amendment nearly defunding a piece of the NSA's blanket surveillance didn't prove that Snowden is a whistle-blower, then two plus two has a debatable relationship to four. But we shouldn't need a nearly successful rebellion in the House of Representatives against the leadership of both parties to ensure fair play in public discourse.

The Espionage Act was created by the "liberal" Wilson Administration to silence domestic political criticism of U.S. entry into World War I. Under the Espionage Act, trade union leader Eugene Debs got ten years in prison for giving a speech against the war, on the grounds that this harmed military recruitment. Nearly a hundred years after its passage, it's time to remove this blot on our democracy.

After reading this article by Robert Naiman, I am writing to lend my support to amend or repeal the Espionage Act to protect Journalists and Whistle Blowers. It strengthens our democracy when many voices are heard, especially opposing voices. This is very important to the health and well functioning of our society. If there is wrong doing by any arm or department of the government, it must be exposed. The wrong doing weakens our government from within. Covering it up is not a solution. It will be a cancer that grows and eventually will destroy our government and our country. The Journalists and Whistle Blowers, at great risk to their security and well being, expose the wrong doings so we can make changes and correct harmful or illegal behavior being carried out in the name of the American People. Therefore, as an American I have a right to know what my government is doing in my name and with my tax dollars. Therefore, again I urge you to repeal or amend an antiquated law from the early part of last century, WWI, to protect journalists and whistle blowers!

As a former intelligence officer during war time, I cannot support this. Persons with access to classified information are sworn to secrecy for a reason. If they violate this commitment, they might be destroying a valuable source of information and putting the lives of Americans at risk. To suggest that they not be prosecuted is ridiculous. You should be held accountable for even making the suggestion. I personally lost information that would have been very useful to us in anticipating enemy attacks when whistleblowers revealed the source to the newspapers. If this is not aiding the enemy, I don't know what is.

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When the powers that be have to resort to WWI relics like the Espionage Act to hold the empire together, you can be sure that the decline has happened and the fall is very near. The system is unsustainable. That's why the administration is touting ugly policies like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Keystone XL pipeline: just so the corporate drivers of our ever-weakening economy can have their last money-making hurrah before the wheels fall off.

Sounds as if you have a vested interest. What is the reason for the secrecy? Why do we have so many enemies? These are not rhetorical questions. It is the right of every US citizen to make suggestions such as the author makes. It is the freedom of speech that is at issue here. If we have not our Bill of Rights, then we have nothing. These rights are being chiseled away every day by our government using our lapdog media to do it. Certainly, neither Manning or Snowden gave away launch codes. That would have been a big breech of security. As for "lives of Americans" well, that is the cry wolf since before Pearl Harbor. Can't Canadians call themselves "Americans"? Can't Mexicans call themselves "Americans"? I'm tired of this alienation of the US citizen from the birth rights due a citizen of the United States. And, here it is, Mr. Indignant Anonymous, there is more to fear from the inside at the top than there is from the outside at the bottom. The bottom is so divided by race and poverty that they can't hardly look up from the grindstone. The Constitution that all swear to uphold is being destroyed by secrets and budgets bloated with private under the table deals. Everyone who is a thinking citizen knows this, but we're all separated by time and distance. The reason that the government is trying to keep everyone excited with the cloak and dagger deal is so they won't see the man behind the curtain. So, sit back, rethink reality and realize that the world can't stay the same because there are too many people who are awakening at the same time.

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How to buy motorcycle fairings is cheapest?
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